I’m standing outside La Alteña, the legendary tequila distillery behind El Tesoro, when Carlos Camarena places a hand on his sister’s shoulder and names her the new master distiller and CEO. It’s a quiet moment, but a consequential one. With that gesture, Jenny Camarena becomes the steward of a process her grandfather, Don Felipe Camarena, began in 1937.
El Tesoro, which translates to “The Treasure,” has long been revered for doing things the hard way. In 2020, the brand dominated the International Spirits Challenge, earning gold across every major category in a wholly blind tasting; an almost unheard-of sweep. The accolades validated not innovation, but restraint. Every drop of El Tesoro is still extracted using a two-ton stone tahona, an ancestral method common in mezcal but rare in tequila production. The pulp and fibers remain in solution before fermentation, maximizing texture and flavor. Even the newly redesigned bottle nods to that commitment, its rounded cap modeled after the ancient wheel.
That control extends beyond the distillery walls. El Tesoro is made exclusively from 100 percent estate-grown agave, cultivated just outside the stillhouse at 6,000 feet above sea level. The proximity allows the Camarena family to oversee every stage of agriculture, dialing in the fruity and floral character for which the spirit is known. The tequila is distilled to proof, exiting the still ready for bottling or barrel, with no water or sugar added.
Just shy of 38 years old, Jenny Camarena is the youngest of nine children in one of tequila’s most storied families; and she didn’t always plan to return. She studied architecture at Tecnológico de Monterrey and built a design career in Guadalajara before the pull of the agave fields proved stronger. In 2015, she joined La Alteña full-time, working in operations alongside the same distillers and jimadores who had known her since childhood.
Now, as both master distiller and CEO, she becomes one of the rare figures in spirits to oversee production and business with equal authority as well as one of the few female master distillers in tequila. Walking the fields with the Camarena siblings, we watch as she tastes a piece of cooked agave, a ritual she’s practiced since she was a girl. In the conversation that follows, she reflects on legacy, leadership, and what comes next for El Tesoro.
Crown & Caliber: You’re now both CEO and master distiller of El Tesoro; two demanding roles that rarely overlap. How do you define each of those jobs, and how do you manage switching hats?
Jenny Camarena: It’s funny; I can understand why these two roles would be seen as very different when the traditional picture of a CEO wears a suit and sits in a corner office. I suppose I do have an office, just not the suit! I guess that’s the biggest challenge, to understand when I must “wear the suit” and when to grab a piece of cooked agave and squeeze it with my hand to feel the texture and lick the juice from my fingers. But I really do see both roles as very connected because our philosophy and outlook as a company are and will always be so connected to our process, and how our tequila is made. My duty is to preserve what my family has done before me. With every decision I make, I want to stay true to who we are and be mindful of how it impacts the close-knit family of people who make El Tesoro. As both CEO and the Master Distiller I would love to push us to become even better and give us better opportunities to reach more people, turn La Alteña into a reference point for what family businesses are capable of. New projects, new profiles, new ideas, but all done in the spirit of the work that has already been done with El Tesoro.
C&C: Tequila-making is such a hands-on, artisanal process. How do you stay connected to the day-to-day production, even while overseeing the broader business strategy?
JC: I have such a comfort level with the production team here that I just continue to trust my team, let their skills and expertise shine and lead us to where we have always gone and will continue to go, after all, they have been my teachers all this time, if I don’t trust them then who can I trust! They are reassuring to me that all we need is a leader, someone with the vision and passion: in turn I think my team trusts me as a Camarena to make the right decisions for our family. But it’s something inevitable, the distillery calls me and I just can’t stay away from it too long.
C&C: A lot of distillers never have to think about marketing plans or global expansion. As CEO, how do you approach decisions that impact El Tesoro’s brand outside of Mexico?
JC: For me, expansion is easy to visualize because we have such a drive to introduce this beautiful brand to as many people as possible. But of course, the way that we make El Tesoro takes longer than other tequilas so we cannot always be everywhere, all the time. The same way that being a Camarena working in the agave fields, so connected to nature, has taught me patience to let nature take its course, I have learned to be patient and take small but impactful steps; to ensure we are expanding but doing it in the right way. There can be timelines and deadline pressures. It’s a delicate balance to grow while at the same time remaining true to who we are, especially when we are known for doing things the right way, that take time. We are a tahona-crushed agave spirit, one of only a handful of other producers still use this method, and we always will be.
C&C: What do you think surprises people most about what it really takes to make great tequila and run a tequila brand?
JC: Tequila has obviously become incredibly popular over the last decade. When my brother started his quest in the late 1980s, 1990s to convince people to drink tequila, it did not have this reputation as a luxury drink that it has now. The surprising piece would likely be how simple the process can really be to make a truly great tequila and at the same time how much time takes to get a drop of tequila out of this “simple” process — we haven’t changed anything that has been done for so many years. Of course we have had to learn how to be more efficient without changing anything of the process (and that’s been challenging), for example switching from a tractor to an electric system to pull the tahona, respecting the process but improving the mechanism.
C&C: El Tesoro has always emphasized traditional methods. How do you balance staying true to your family’s legacy while leading the company into its next chapter?
JC: Our process is so integral to who we are that I don’t foresee much change on the production side. My duty is to protect what my family has built while putting my own mark on things and pushing the possibilities of tequila. My grandfather, my father, and brother have always been fearless, this is what you have to be as a Camarena. Experimentation, being creative and innovating, making decisions in this area, this is what I’m excited about for our future.
C&C: As one of the few female master distillers and CEOs in the industry, do you feel a responsibility to make space for other women in tequila and spirits more broadly?
JC: It’s both a great challenge and opportunity to be a voice for women in tequila, and I am very proud to take on this role. In my family, we have this “next generation” of women in the family business coming up; many of my nieces are all in leadership roles at our various properties, like Gaby Flores and Fany Camarena. The beauty of what we do is that we have to listen to and trust in nature, which is really bigger than all of us, no matter of gender.
C&C: What’s your favorite drink and where would you like to be drinking it?
JC: I love El Tesoro Blanco in a Ranch Water. And just to relax with this in my living room . I love the lighting, the couch and the coffee tables, that’s the place I sit when I’m cleaning my fountain pens (I collect them), that’s “my place.”
C&C: What’s your vision for El Tesoro over the next five to ten years? And what do you hope people will remember most about the tequilas made under your leadership?
JC: I would love for the world to understand our mission to stay true to ourselves, be authentic and proud, and be conscious. This world is changing so fast, it’s important we don’t forget that. I want people to know this is what my family is, we make everything with love and we would like the world to know it, now and always. My family’s fingerprints are all over everything and I want to preserve that, and now it’s my turn, to bring my own ideas, personality, my dreams and make sure my impact is for the greater good of our families working here at La Alteña.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
